Wild friends: A Monitor photographer's favorite animal photos

A tiny goby pokes its head out of a brain coral off the coast of Bonaire, Netherlands Antilles, in the Caribbean. Gobies are generally only 1 to 2 inches long. Melanie Stetson Freeman/Staff

A cat watches fishermen net fish in the 'cabin of death,' a holding tank at a fish farm, Pischera e Mar 'e Pontis, that has been in the same location since the 1400s in Cabras, Sardinia, Italy. Melanie Stetson Freeman/Staff

A park ranger says hello to koala 'Big Red' in French Island State Park in Australia. Melanie Stetson Freeman/Staff

Professional saltwater crocodile catchers give a lesson in croc unloading to a few 'volunteers' in Darwin, Australia. Melanie Stetson Freeman/Staff

A zebra peers out of the bush in Lion Sands Game Reserve in South Africa. Melanie Stetson Freeman/Staff

Goldfish are for sale at the pet market in Moscow. Melanie Stetson Freeman/Staff

Stray dog Bella and Tarra the elephant are best friends at The Elephant Sanctuary in Hohenwald, Tenn. Melanie Stetson Freeman/Staff

A lion rests in the grass at Maasai Mara game reserve in Kenya. Melanie Stetson Freeman/Staff

A female gorilla rests against a stand of bamboo at Parc National des Volcans, Rwanda. Melanie Stetson Freeman/Staff

On a small island in the western Caribbean, wild donkeys find refuge at the Donkey Sanctuary in Bonaire, Netherlands Antilles. The approximately 600 donkeys living on the island sometimes need human help to survive. Melanie Stetson Freeman/Staff

A hyena walks down a path in the Maasai Mara game reserve in Kenya. Melanie Stetson Freeman/Staff

Douglas the sheep comes over to greet visitors at a bed and breakfast on a farm in Pemberton, Australia. Melanie Stetson Freeman/Staff

Endangered South China tiger TigerWoods walks by a stream at Laohu Valley Reserve in Philippolis, South Africa. Three South China tigers imported from China live at the reserve as part of a breeding program. Only about 60 tigers of this type are left in the world. Melanie Stetson Freeman/Staff

Impala graze in the bush at Sabi Sands Game Reserve in South Africa. Melanie Stetson Freeman/Staff

A clown fish hangs out in an anemone in a tank at HQ Aquarium in Townsville, Australia. Melanie Stetson Freeman/Staff

An elephant's huge tusks are visible through the bush at Sabi Sands Game Reserve in South Africa. Melanie Stetson Freeman/Staff

A hermit crab walks on pieces of coral that washed up onto a beach in Curacao, Netherlands Antilles. Melanie Stetson Freeman/Staff

A giraffe munches on leaves at dawn in Pilanesberg National Park, South Africa. Melanie Stetson Freeman/Staff

A red fox in Denali National Park in Alaska shows signs of a winter coat. Melanie Stetson Freeman/Staff

A colorful bird sits on a fence in Maasai Mara game reserve in Kenya. Melanie Stetson Freeman/Staff

Hippos, who spend most of their time in the water, peer out of water plants in the Maasai Mara game reserve in Kenya. Melanie Stetson Freeman/Staff

A detail shot of a male peacock's feathers is possible at Bonorong Wildlife Park, where visitors can get up close to wildlife, in Brighton, Tasmania, Australia. Melanie Stetson Freeman/Staff

An elephant stands alone at dusk at the Masai Mara game reserve in Kenya. Melanie Stetson Freeman/Staff

Big-eye jacks swim in a huge school near Cocos Island, an isolated ocean oasis 300 miles off the Pacific coast of Costa Rica. Melanie Stetson Freeman/Staff

Nazca boobies groom each other on Espanola, an uninhabited southern island within the Galapagos Islands chain. Melanie Stetson Freeman/Staff

A Galapagos giant tortoise eats at the Charles Darwin Research Station on the Galapagos Islands. Melanie Stetson Freeman/Staff

Two llamas, Czar (l.) and Randy, from Northern Vermont Llama Company, wait to be loaded up for a hike in Greensboro, Vt. Llamas can carry one-quarter of their own weight - usually from 60 to 100 pounds. Melanie Stetson Freeman/Staff

A sea lion pup poses for the camera, unafraid of the tourists who have just landed on her beach on Santa Fe, Galapagos Islands. Melanie Stetson Freeman/Staff

A stork roams the open plains of the Masai Mara game reserve in Kenya. Melanie Stetson Freeman/Staff

A frog sits in a pond in Sherborn, Mass. Melanie Stetson Freeman/Staff

Dogs of all shapes and sizes wait patiently at the Escuelita Condesa, a doggie school and daycare, in a park in Mexico City. Melanie Stetson Freeman/Staff

A man at Meletse Game Reserve, a private park in South Africa, holds the paw of a sedated lioness as she has surgery to insert a tracking transmitter into her abdomen. Melanie Stetson Freeman/Staff

Wilbur the pig has something to say at a farm in Pemberton, Australia. Melanie Stetson Freeman/Staff